Thank you so much for taking the time to comment on the loss of my grandfather. I really appreciate every single one of them very, very much. It really does help to read all of them.
It’s been a long week, but I’m ready for what promises to be a lovely, sunny weekend. Hopefully I’ll get some spinning done tonight, and I’ll have plenty of pictures to show you soon. Hopefully spring is showing itself in your neighborhood too!
Filed under family
…of my very much loved Grandfather, who passed away this Wednesday, March 5th, 2008.
How to write, what to write, if to write…but it seems impossible to not write. Just as much as this blog is a record of all the happy blessings in my life it is also a record of the things that can be so difficult to deal with. And as hard as this is, my Grandfather was very much, and will always be, a happy blessing in my life.
But as much as I love to write, the words don’t come as easily in a time like this. What do you say when you lose someone who was so full of love, and fun, and happiness all of the time? Who always gladly had every minute for you? Who every single time he saw you, welcomed you with a smile and a hug and made sure you knew you were loved?
On Wednesday night, I looked for words for comfort, some words that would resonate with what I was feeling, something that might help me make sense of how hard it is to lose someone who is so important to you, but someone who was also very ill and ready to go. I turned to Mark Doty, my favorite author and poet, and I found it in his book Atlantis, “Nocture in Black and Gold.” I’ll leave you with the final lines of this poem, with the words that spoke to me that night:
Doesn't everything rush to be something else? Won't it be like this, where you're going: shore and bay, harbor and heaven one continuum sans coast or margins? No one's here, or hardly anyone, and how strangely free and fine it is to be laved and extended, furthered in darkness, while shadows give way to other shadows, and the bay murmurs its claim: You're a rippling, that quick, and you long to be loose as air again, unfettered freshness, atmosphere and aria, an aspect of fog, manifest, and then dissolving, which you could regret no more than fog. A brave candling theory I'm making for you, little lamplight, believe, and ripple out free as shimmer is. Go. Don't go. Go.
Filed under Uncategorized
The flu has been officially kicked out of our house, thank goodness. The Skeptic got a little sick and the boys were amazingly flu-free. So I can actually bring you a real post today!
I present to you my Loop batt, all spun up and ready to go. Earth Goddess is the colorway.
I really struggle with getting a good picture taken while the boys are around. Knittybaby dumped a bag of chips all over the carpet while this second one was being taken. Not helpful when you’re trying to take an in-focus picture without the flash.
I’m pretty happy with how this yarn turned out. It’s about a heavy worsted for the most part, with the occasional thick spot. But better consistency than I’ve had before and the batt was fun to spin.
Tomorrow is March first, which starts a fun but busy two months for us. All four of us will have our birthdays to celebrate, which means it will be contest time soon, so keep your eyes open!
Enjoy a wonderful weekend everyone. I’m getting in the mood for spring, so I’m looking forward to some warms temps here in Minnesota. Martha’s gardening issue has me inspired….
Filed under spinning
I’m on day five of flu hell, although I do feel more like a human today than yesterday so that’s a good sign. It’s actually not been all that bad. It just sucks so much more when you have two little ones who won’t stop climbing on Mama, or waking up Mama, and who are wired from being allowed to watch PBS 24/7. ( Little Man is now an expert on volcanoes, although his information is a bit suspicious. Did you know, that if you walk to the top of a volcano and drop a match into it, the entire volcano will explode? Yeah, neither did I. We may need to take a trip to the library. But still, you’ve got to dig an almost five year old who loves Nova.)
So anyway, you all can imagine my state right now. So here’s a picture I’ve been saving for a rainy day. I can save it because it is the sock that never ends. It stays the same no matter how long I knit it. Spunky Eclectic, Blue Faced Leicester for her sock club. These will be lovely if they ever get done. This was her Halloween colorway. So soft.
Yes, that’s me. I haven’t read a blog or updated my blog for over a week now. My free minutes have been few and far between, and probably will be for a few more weeks. But I’m still here and will try to pop in as I can. We’ll see how much catching up I can do today.
The good news is that my own personal genius, the Skeptic, has fixed my camera. So I do have photos to share. Today’s photo? My Fleece Artist scarf, the last photo I took before I dropped my camera and smashed up the lens.
This is from one of their scarf kits, it’s a thick and thin wool and a silk boucle. It’s super warm and perfect for this winter we’re having. The only problem? It sheds like crazy and I’m walking around the city looking like I have a long haired white cat who I let sleep on my coat. I tried to explain to the Skeptic that I needed a new coat that would hide my constantly shedding scarf and he gave me “the look.” That is the “we barely have extra money to order out pizza right now and you want a new coat to go with your scarf?” Um, yeah. Okay, so no new coat right now.
So there you have it, some actual knitting content.
My other main order of business is to catch up with the wonderful award that both Catherine and Lia gave me:
This truly did make my day, and now I get to pass it on to ten others who really do make my day, those who I miss when I have a week like this past one has been. But first I need to say “right back at’cha!” to both Catherine and Lia. Catherine is a wonderful friend who I don’t get to see enough lately (I miss my Tuesday night knitting!). Lia was my first coffee swap partner and a sweet person who dyes beautiful, gorgeous yarn. Her package was the first time anyone ever dyed any yarn just for me, and I felt very spoiled. Thank you both so much for thinking of me!!!
So in addition to the two awesome ladies above, here are ten more very fine bloggers!
Nuttnbunny: Oh, can she spin! And I think she must spin in her sleep, she seems to get so much done.
Jess: A friend that I first met when Little Man and her oldest were both babies. We hadn’t seen each other for while, but then started reading each other’s blogs, both of us wondering, “hmmmm, is that her? ” And it was. I’m glad we’re both running in the same circles again, and her blog is a nice way to keep in touch as we still don’t see each other all that much.
Chris: How else would I keep up with all my knit-blogging news? And you can’t beat cats and knitting!
Paige: A new blogger, she always has great thrifting finds and some beautiful projects.
Jennifer: An all around talented crafter and the Fiberflix queen! (Although now that our tv is busted I’m even worse at keeping up with all those great movies.)
Jody: She knits, sews, spins, and takes lovely pictures!
Marsha: My fellow vegetarian-knitter-mom and another former swap partner. Not just knitting, she’s got a great mix of interesting stuff on her blog.
Sheepish Annie: Funny, funny, funny. And just to be sure you know, she’s very funny.
Dottycookie: A lovely mixture of creative goods!!
Guinifer: You want to keep up on your sock yarn? Then her blog is not to be missed!
Wow, so hard to pick only ten out of the 196 blogs I have in my bloglines. Yeah, I know that’s crazy. But everyone is so talented, I hate to miss it!
Filed under spinning
Sometimes, I produced some very bad knitting. This is an example of that. Yes, these mittens will be warm, and the Peace Fleece yarn is lovely, but they are crooked as can be.
There is good reason for this, which I will get to another day. But, I did want to show that despite what has been on this blog this month, I am still knitting (although barely.)
I’m going to go try to get in the other thumb tonight. Many thanks to Jess for taking pictures for me on Sunday. It looks like my camera will be back in working order, so I’ll have a huge stream of photos soon!
Filed under mittens
So it was not in the cards last night to post. The Skeptic was at work, and I fell asleep with the boys and did not wake up until 10:30. By then it was all I could do to find my knitting and grab a cup of tea so that my night was not completely lost. I did finish up one mitered mitten (but I’m not thrilled with it) and caught up on Eastenders.
So what about spinning, then? The Loop batt still waits next to my wheel and the camera is in process of repair, so let’s talk spinning books this morning.
When I was going on my Christmas gift money spending spree, I came across a new spinning book, Creative Spinning.For only $10 I couldn’t pass it up, and I’d say it’s well worth the money.
The authors give good basic instructions on spinning. This is the sort of book that would have been helpful after I took my first spinning class. Just enough information to get you going, but not too much to complicate things (although I’m not sure it would be a good match for a beginner who is trying to teach themself, you might need more infomation). They also include a little section on spinning novelty yarns, plying to make diamond, boucle, marled, or other yarns.
While part one is helpful for beginners, part two is the best part of the book (although for more advanced spinners): thirty yarns to admire or spin yourself. The authors did a great job of presenting each one, showing the fibers, the yarn, and what it looks like when knit. There is a nice mix of fiber, everything from Wensleydale to bamboo. My only beef is that there is no resource page at the back. When I went to look for where they got all those beautiful fibers, there was not a word. That part was disappointing, but otherwise it’s a great book.
Other spinning books that I noticed coming out are:
Intertwined
A Fine Fleece
Start Spinning
How do you get a 22 month old to stop saying dammit?
It was frighteningly cute at first, considering he actually used it appropriately. But now he uses it all the time. Whenever soemthing does not quite happen as he wants, he lets out this little, “dam-mit” under his breath. No screaming, no shouting, he just says it to himself. He also says “you poopie” when he’s mad, but at least that’s something an almost-two-year-old normally says.
Our tactics of “that’s not a nice word” just result in a whole string of dammits, so we’re just trying the ignore it method. I’ll let you know how it works. I’m just praying he stops before our next visit to the in-laws.
Today seemed to be a day of cursing for me, which I’m not sure why. It was a lovely day. We made apple pie and pretended to be vikings. Little Man was very big-brotherly and sweet all day. But there were moments, both involving food where food should not be. I let an “aw shit” out, to which Little Man decided to echo me, shaking his head at Knittybaby. And then I let an f-bomb slide under my breath while cleaning up another mess, thinking I was alone. But you’re never alone as a mom, and my little cursing baby was right behind me, repeating me loud and clear.
Honestly, I’m not that foul mouthed of a person. This is a slightly embarrassing post to write. I have cleaned up my vocabulary quite a bit since my college years, but there seems to be something about a foody mess that brings out my worst words. I admire the moms who seem to be able to immediately change everything to “rats” and “crackers” as soon as their kids get to the repeating stage. Maybe if I start charging myself yarn for each slip up?
Filed under kids
It happened. We were allowed to sleep for an extra blissful 30 minutes.
Usually our Saturday and Sunday mornings are not as relaxing. We are hounded from the minute the sun is up, sometimes before.
“It’s morning!!! Get up!!! Why won’t you get up?!!!” Boys climbing over us, gleeful, jumping, bouncing, an elbow in the stomach, a foot in the face. “PLEASE!!!!! Get up!!!!”
Then the agreement to leave the big bed to “go play quietly.” But only to be interrupted with “Mom!”, “Stop it!”, “You broke it!” and Knittybaby wailing, the Skeptic and I arguing over who’s turn it is to go make peace, hoping that maybe we can get another ten minutes before we give in and get out of bed.
That is a usual weekend morning in our house.
But today! Today a small miracle happened. They woke up. They got up right away and played peacefully, quietly for 30 minutes. We dozed, listening to playful chatter, the building of train tracks, Little Man saying, “Sorry, are you okay? It was just a little bump…” Happy playing, actual teamwork. And then….they made us breakfast.
You’re worried about the breakfast, aren’t you? You’re seeing disaster here, right? But even this went well. “A special surprise for you!” Cereal for all four of us, spoons at each place, not a drop of milk spilled. Although I think each bowl had about a cup and a half of milk in in, but hey…it was part of the charm.
Now we don’t expect this to start happening every weekend morning. I’m sure next weekend we’ll be back to the usual. But, the potential is there, I’ve seen the future, and it actually involves rest….
Filed under kids
Knittymama 